5 tips
to start working out

You have probably hear these before: “I should really start working out.” Or “Monday I will start for real”. Great New Year’s resolutions, but mostly just words without action. How do you successfully start working out? Personal training expert Dymphy de Jong shares 5 tips with practical strategies you can implement today.

1. Set a small, achievable goal

Make the goal so small, that you’re minimally 80% convinced that you’ll be able to achieve it. Choose 1 goal to consistently act upon for 1 month minimally. Learning a new habit takes 21 to 90 days.

A few examples to start working out:

• Go to the gym for 30 minutes 2 times per week
• Do a 20 minute home workout 3 times a week
• Take the stairs at the office twice every day
• Walk outside for 10 minutes every day

And make this specific: at what time or linked to which other activity? The examples made specific:

• Working out: in the morning at 08:00
• Stairs: every time I go to the’l toilet, I’ll do that 2 floors up
• Walking: after lunch

How do you deal with resistance? What do you choose to do when you don’t feel like exercising?

I sometimes don’t feel like exercising myself. Yes, even an athlete is not always motivated. I then say to myself: “I will only do the first exercise”. And once I’ve warmed up and done the exercise, I usually feel much better about myself. And then I easily do the rest of my training program.

This is also known as the “5 minute rule”. Tell yourself that you will only do it for 5 minutes.

Strategy: 5 minute rule 

2. Take the first step

The first step is the hardest. Then you create momentum and the routine gets easier and easier. To take the first step, count down: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1… and then you do it! Because of this, your brain doesn’t have time to come up with excuses and alternative behaviors. Mel Robbins has developed this strategy and explains it in this inspiring and hilarious speech (5 minutes viewing time).

Strategy: 5 second rule

3. Accountability partner

Carrying out the responsibility for the new habit in a disciplined way can be challenging. Let’s be real. You probably won’t feel like doing it. You get distracted by the couch that feels like a magnet pulling you towards it, going out to dinner with friends seems more inviting or you end up scrolling on your phone and another hour has passed. Prompting thoughts such as “not exercising for one day doesn’t matter” or “I’ll go tomorrow instead” can tempt you to not keep the appointment with yourself.

An accountability partner, as the name suggests, is someone who holds you accountable for your commitment to your agreement. An accountability partner can be a personal trainer, your partner or a friend. This also includes a weekly group class or the use of an app, such as an online training program in the Dymphy Fit app or a running app such as Runkeeper or Nike Run.

You make the appointment with someone else who expects you at a place and time. Moreover, you not only invest in the relationship, but you often also make a financial investment by paying for a subscription. The partner therefore helps you with continuity.

The challenge here is that you want to be able to rely on your accountability partner. If your friend regularly cancels or doesn’t confront you when you cancel the appointment yourself, choose another or an additional partner to increase your own success rate.

Strategy: choose a reliable partner or app

4. Do something fun!

If you are intrinsically motivated to undertake a sporting activity, the threshold to start is much lower. Think of learning a new skill, such as a handstand, a deadlift or playing padel; go to a fun dance class (I love these!), or maybe you like being outside? Choose a boot camp, soccer, cycling or running.

Strategy: Choose learning a new skill, playing or being outside.

Even when you choose an activity that you enjoy, you will undoubtedly encounter resistance or distraction. Then use the 5 second or 5 minute strategies to do it anyway!

5. Strive for consistency, not perfection

In the long run, the most important thing is that you exercise regularly with the intention of becoming stronger, more skilled and better conditioned. You don’t always have to show 100% effort. Often time people set the bar too high by expecting too much at the start. This results in fear of not meeting your standard then you just don’t go at all.

So this last tip is: focus on the intention of consistency. “Just show up.” And results will follow!

Strategy: use a calendar or Excel to tick off when you showed up.

Extra help

Have you tried this alone before and could you use some extra help? Here is a brief overview of how we can help you with personal training with the 5 tips:

1. With personal training we set big goals and divide them into small, achievable goals. 
2. You take the first step by signing up, we help with the rest. 
3. As our trainers, we are your accountability partner. Together we discuss what you need if you don’t feel like it for a while or you fall out of your routine of going to the gym. How can we best help you to exercise consistently? Sometimes, for example, a Whatsapp message or call to realign your focus can be enough.
4. Do you like to measure your progress and see how you get stronger every week? We keep track of it for you in your logbook and your personal records, such as how many push-ups you can do, which you can read in the graphs in the progress registration in the Dymphy Fit app. Do you like to play while exercising? Max and Dymphy too! We choose games, variation organisational forms or challenges to make training fun.
5. You will receive a personal training program tailored to your goals, capacity and way your body moves. We understand that you have a busy life and therefore your energy fluctuates. We adjust the program based on your capacity. Sometimes you are a bit stressed, more tired or have a cold. No worries, we’re here for you to train anyway. We strive for consistency, not perfection.
   

Dymphy has been a fitness enthousiast since 2008 and has been working as a personal trainer since 2013. She knows better than anyone the mental challenges of “the couch magnet” where you prefer to sit on the couch after a long day at work rather than train or thoughts such as
“I can also have a nice glass of wine tonight instead of training.”

She is fascinated by the psychological and physiological principles that underlie this. In a nutshell:

Motion leads to emotion. You produce happiness hormones dopamine and endorphins. Exercise instantly makes you feel better!

She works with different methods to get you moving. Interested? Book your free trial session now.

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